Aftermath

Chapter 5: Fires Do Rage

In the Overworld, things are very different as their peace is shattered and the clans are hit with the greatest massacre since the Great War. It made the Nether seem peaceful, until Tygren's final actions in Sendaria spark a fire in Achillean and he uses it to burn Ingressus.

Perhaps more than he wanted to...

Author's note: Imma apologise in advance for the way this chapter ends

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Sendaria.

The sun was setting along the horizon and the sky glowed orange with the vanishing beams slowly disappearing behind the trees.

Or was it...something else?

Something darker? Something urgent?

No-one could tell for the thick black smoke creeping across the sky, consuming the light.

Home.

Or was it? Would it still be by the end of it?

Amongst the red fires, more red. Evil red, shifting across the landscape, weapons in hand, spreading innocent red as blood filled the rivers and streams.

Sendaria was red...

Thalleous waded through the stream on the edge of the village as quickly as he could. He needed to stop Senn from reaching the fires – for reasons he couldn't yet explain.

"SENN WAIT!"

Even the echo of his thunder wouldn't stop Senn in his tracks and he had resulted in catching up to him to physically restrain him, wrapping himself around his chest to hold him back, squeezing as tight as his arms would let him. Senn struggled with everything he could give, grunting against his strength, but the Sendaris champion was not willing to let go so easily. Not of Senn, at least.

Senn wriggled underneath Thalleous' arms, grabbing and pulling at his wrists, trying to pry them off.

"Let go of me!"

This brought back memories for Thalleous – memories that he had long since buried. Memories of a small clanless Ardoni wriggling in his arms. A small clanless Ardoni that he-

"Whoever did this could still be here..."

When his words got through to him, Senn finally stopped struggling and fell to his knees and the two of them looked across to the village as it burned with ferocity, the flames reaching for the sky and consuming everything on the ground. They couldn't see anyone. There was no movement. No sign of life anywhere.

Why here? Why now?

Thalleous knew. He always knew. That's why he wasn't in Sendaria when the attack came – because he knew.

Everything he had worked on up until this point was to prevent all of this from transpiring, and thanks to his efforts, he had avoided total detriment in time. But at what cost? Who would be there to see it? Who would know?

It was only when the small army of Voltaris emerged from the flames did it all become so real. The very thing that he had warned the clans against for years – decades – had come and he was the only one left standing willing to do something about it. A single Voltaris bowed as he gestured to the destruction that he so mercilessly created in the name of the Prime Songs. As those words escaped Thalleous' lips, Tygren smiled.

"Whatever the Voltaris are planning, I will stop it."

Ingressus scowled at the words of the Sendaris champion who had caused him years of grief and Achillean could see him writhe in anger at the sight of his cursed blue markings. The Wither Skull projection was their only window to the Overworld, and it was about to become tainted in blood.